1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for producing an edible, hand held food product, and more particularly, to an apparatus for removing a hand-held food product made from cookie dough from a baking mold. Such product preferably has a configuration which may be used as a container for ice cream and other frozen confections.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traditional ice cream cones, and methods and apparatus for making such cones, are well known in the prior art. There are generally two types of edible, hand held containers or cones capable of holding ice cream or other frozen confections such as frozen yogurt: wafer or cake cones, and sugar or waffle cones. Wafer or cake cones are baked in molds using what is generally referred to in the art as a "liquid" dough generally comprised of water, flour and sugar. Wafer cones are relatively thin and lightweight and are baked in the molds for a minute or two. Following baking, the bottom mold section separates, allowing the baked wafer cones to far by gravity into a collection bin where they are further collected and processed. This method of removing wafer cones from the molds is acceptable because such cones are lightweight and relatively sturdy. Accordingly, removal of the cones in this fashion results in only minimal, if any, cone breakage.
Sugar or waffle cones, on the other hand, are baked flat and then rolled into a cone shape using a dough having a relatively high sugar content. Thus, there are no molds from which the sugar or waffle cones must be removed.
According to the inventor's related application Ser. No. 07/630,312 filed Dec. 19, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,286 the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference, a method and apparatus has been developed for making hand a held food product containers such as a cone shaped container made from cookie dough. Because of the thickness of these cones and their structural properties immediately following the baking step, these containers or cones cannot be removed from the molds like wafer cones by allowing them to drop by gravity into a collection bin. To do so would result in a high incidence of breakage and/or deformation of the cone configuration. This is due to the relatively soft and pliable nature of the cookie dough immediately after baking and prior to cooling. Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus to remove the baked containers from the baking molds, and allow the same to cool, without breakage and/or deformation of the container configuration.